Throwdown Ep. 24 – “Press X to Win”

Welcome to another episode of Throwdown. On this podcast/vidcast we discuss the latest video game, pop culture, and tech news in an honest and uncompromising fashion.

With The Order: 1886‘s controversial release still on everyone’s lips, the subject of Quick Time Events has risen again. Though the mechanic has a long and storied history, many feel it’s not a valid (or even real) gameplay mechanic. For our main topic we discuss QTEs from both sides. We debate why they are/aren’t a viable way to interact with games and also talk about some games that had the best and worst QTEs.

On the Gaming News front, we discuss the return of Battle Chasers. Battle Chasers seemed to have been all but abandoned by series creator Joe Madureira but now he has teamed up with ex-members of Vigil Games (known for Darksiders) to bring it back in video game form. We also discuss Microsoft slashing the price of Xbox Live Gold membership and how March will see some GOOD games on Games With Gold. Will all of this make the Xbox brand more appealing for those on the fence?

For Tech News we obviously talk about the FCC’s ruling on Net Neutrality. With the law being enforced, the internet will remain “free” and companies will be prevented from data throttling or giving preferential treatment to specific entities. We talk about how this is both good and bad.

Finally we have Pop Culture News. First up is the rumor that the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Spider-Man won’t be played by a white actor. Is it smart to not have the classic Peter Parker in the MCU? We also talk about how director Neil Blomkamp is officially signed on to helm the next Alien movie. How will erasing the last two Alien movies help the franchise and what does the director intend to bring to the table? We break it all down.